Bhubaneswar, 7/1 : Government doctors across Odisha have defiantly continued their two-hour Outpatient Department (OPD) boycott on Wednesday, January 7, 2026, despite the state government invoking the stringent Essential Services (Maintenance) Act (ESMA) on Tuesday to prohibit any form of strike or work cessation| This ongoing agitation by the Odisha Medical Services Association (OMSA) has severely impacted patient care, particularly for those hailing from rural and remote areas who rely heavily on public health institutions for their medical needs|
The state government, through its Home (Special Section) Department, had issued an order on January 6, 2026, imposing ESMA for a period of six months, explicitly banning strikes by doctors, nursing officers, pharmacists, paramedics, technicians, Class-III and Class-IV employees, and even contractual staff across all government and grant-in-aid health institutions| This sweeping prohibition covers medical colleges, district headquarters hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals, community health centres, primary health centres, municipal hospitals, and other autonomous health institutions like the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre (AHRCC) and Regional Spinal Injury Centre, as well as jail and police hospitals| The move was aimed at ensuring uninterrupted healthcare delivery, citing public interest|
However, OMSA members proceeded with their scheduled agitation, enforcing a statewide OPD shutdown from 9 am to 11 am, as part of their persistent movement to press for the fulfilment of a 10-point charter of demands| Dr. Kishore Misra, President of OMSA, asserted that the government is employing “pressure tactics” by invoking ESMA instead of addressing their “genuine demands”| He reiterated the association’s decision not to withdraw the protest until their demands are met, even expressing readiness to face arrests under ESMA provisions|
Among the key demands put forth by the agitating doctors are remuneration on par with the central government pay scale, the abolition of Level-15 as followed for other Class-I officers of the Odisha government without any precondition, proportionate cadre restructuring across all grades, incremental incentives for super specialists, specialists, and diploma-holding administrators, along with post-mortem allowance and equal benefits to OMHS and OMES cadres| OMSA also highlights the critical issue of severe understaffing, noting that out of 15,774 approved doctor positions in the state, only around 6,000 are currently filled, leading to excessive workloads for the existing medical personnel|
While emergency services and indoor activities remain operational, the two-hour daily OPD boycott has caused significant inconvenience, with reports of long waits and hardships for patients, particularly those travelling from remote areas during the ongoing winter season| Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling has appealed to the doctors to resume their duties, assuring them that the government is sympathetically considering their demands and that a high-level committee has been constituted and is actively examining the issues raised| Despite this, the standoff between the Odisha government and the doctors’ association continues, with patients bearing the brunt of the prolonged agitation||
